The Story of a Flower
by Sekai
Summary: A story of Lily Evans and James Potter...
1. A Girl

**Disclaimer: Everything you know belongs to the genius that is J.K.Rowling.  
****A/N: Just something that popped into my head. Read and Review?**

The end of the school-year, 1975

James Potter brushed down his robes and desperately tried to flatten his hair before entering the Great Hall at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He stopped for a second at the entrance in amazement, remembering the obvious splendour of this hall, so severely different from his former school. He noted the table where his best friend was seated and headed towards him. He had only recently arrived to this school, and had just arrived from the Headmasters office were he was re-chosen into Gryffindor House the same house as his friend, who had arrived a week ago.

The reason for James' so sudden change in school was the death of his parents. High up in wizarding society the Potter Auror couple was in danger constantly, one of the reasons why James had been sent to a foreign school in his second year. And this danger had recently become fatal, and they had become the victims of the new Dark Wizard who called himself Voldemort. And now he had been transferred to Hogwarts School, one of the beat and safest wizarding schools, to be kept safe. Arriving on the last day of term, and being forced to stay during half of the summer vacation was also a part of the program it seemed. Luckily his best friend had forced his parents into transferring him as well. James seated himself next to Sirius Black, officially known as James Potter's beast buddy. Immediately his dark haired friend introduced him to two boys in their year and dormitory. James remembered them vaguely from his first year. The first boy had sandy-brown hair and brownish eyes tinted with amber; his name was Remus Lupin. The second boy was a bit smaller, and had a mousy face. His hair was dirty blond and his eyes watery-blue; his name was Peter Pettigrew. Vaguely in the background James could make out Headmaster Dumbledores announcement.

James wasn't even aware music had started playing until a beautiful voice rang trough the Hall. He turned slightly in his seat to face the stage were the teachers tables were placed. There stood a young girl, probably just turned fourteen, and she was singing in the most beautiful voice James had ever heard. Her dark red hair was plaited to one side and she was simply dressed in a black robe, but he hadn't seen anyone as beautiful as her in his whole life. Her eyes, which had been closed up to this point, he noted, were sparkling green against the peach of her skin. As suddenly as it had began it now ended, and the beautiful young girl left the stage blushing and seated herself with her friends further down the Gryffindor table. And in a daze James applauded with the others.

And it wasn't until he crept into his old bed in his old dormitory that he realised that he hadn't even noticed which song she was singing...


	2. The Girl

**Disclaimer: Everything you know belongs to the genius that is J.K.Rowling.  
****A/N: Just something that popped into my head. Read and Review?**

The beginning of the school-year, 1971

The new first-years had been chosen, and had been seated at their appropriate tables. To the amazement of the whole lot of eleven-year-olds the food suddenly appeared from nowhere. They learned histories and facts about the school from the older students throughout the whole meal. When finally the deserts were finished as well the Headmaster rose and reminded everyone that the Forbidden Forest was forbidden, and that the caretaker reminded them of the list of forbidden items, "Which," One of the older students mumbled, "He seems to have forgotten is not permitted to show students. He seems to think _someone_ might get ideas." Then the Headmaster announced that it was time for the school song, which in response one of the younger teachers groaned, audible from her seat at the teachers-tables to the furthest corners of the hall. Professor Dumbledore sent her an amused glance, and kept on. With a flick of his wand the text wrote itself in the air with golden bonds. The whole school drew a simultaneous breath and then everyone began singing the school song in the melody of their choosing. Lily Evans, one of the new Gryffindors, chose to make up a melody of her own. She began singing ever so softly, but her voice rose in strength and volume as the song proceeded.

_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,  
Teach us something please,  
Whether we be old and bald or young with scabby knees,  
Our heads could do with filling with some interesting stuff,  
For now they're bare and full of air  
Dead flies and bits of fluff._

What had started with a few people leading their singing into dwindles and holding their breath to hear Lily sing, had lead to the whole school, and still all of that went unnoticed by her. Her small voice, which normally would have drowned among the so forceful of the others, now rang between the stone walls. Her eyes were focused at the table, her ability to quickly memorise words and sentences and texts now in handy, and therefor her eyes couldn't notice what her ears wouldn't notice since she was signing. She unknowingly held the full attention of over a thousand students, the around twenty teachers and about the same amount of ghosts, as well as the painted people who had crammed themselves into the scattered pictures that lined the hall.

_So teach us things worth knowing,  
Bring back what we've forgot,  
Just do your best we'll do the rest and learn until our brains all rot!_

She finished and lifted her head. Something that resulted in her beginning to blush furiously, when she realised everyone had listened to her singing.

And so Lily Evans began her magical education, and so it were that she came to stand on that stage three years later where James Potter noticed her for the first time. Had it not been for the magnificence of Lily Evans' voice who know what would have happened to the magical world. The magic in her voice brought together two powerful people, who became parents to the one who led to the first fall of the Dark Lord. 'Cause after all, music is magic greater than you would ever realise, greater, in the end, then the magic of any Dark Lord.


	3. A Transfer

**Disclaimer: Everything you know belongs to the genius that is J.K.Rowling.  
****A/N: Just something that popped into my head. Read and Review?**

The end of the school-year, 1972

Lily Evans was called to the Headmasters office. So went the rumours at Hogwarts. Terrified the young girl trailed behind MacGonnagal. What could she possibly have done? She was so distressed, in fact, that she missed the whole trip, and was truly surprised when she noticed she was standing before Dumbledore. He gestured towards a chair, and she seated herself. He then proceeded to sort some of the papers on his desk. Finally he leaned back in his chair and fixed his blue gaze on the tiny redheaded, green-eyed girl in front of her. She was visibly shaking. His eyes twinkled as he turned to a parchment on his desk.  
"Do you know what this is miss Evans?" He asked her. She shook her head, red hair bouncing about her face, green eyes gleaming hugely.  
"This is your exam-results." Dumbledore said lightly, and he could only imagine what had to be chiming inside her head at this moment. Things like '_You've failed!'_ and '_You're so bad you've been expelled!'_ and '_I knew I was a muggle!'_ probably flew by repeatedly, along with things like '_I knew I didn't belong here...'  
_He smiled at her.  
"These are one of the highest scores ever achieved by a first year." He said lightly and fixed his gaze at her, waiting for his words to sink in. Lily looked absolutely flabbergasted.  
"I-I-" She began shakingly. "I mean—that can't _be_!"  
"Oh, I assure you it can." Dumbledore said. "And now we were wondering if you would consider being transferred to start your third year next September first." Lily looked at her Headmaster, her mouth opening and closing in silent wonder.  
"Of course!" She said at last.  
"If you think I'd do better a year ahead, I'll do it!" Dumbledore beamed in response.  
"Wonderful!" He exclaimed.  
"You'll expect some extra homework over the vacation, and surely you'll need a little time catching up with the rest, but I'm sure you'll do brilliantly! MacGonnagal will arrange your transfer immediately." MacGonnagal stepped forward and nodded, and then brought Lily out again. She walked as if a daze back to Gryffindors common room, where her friends spared no means in figuring out what had happened in the Headmasters office.


	4. The Boy

**Disclaimer: Everything you know belongs to the genius that is J.K.Rowling.  
****A/N: Just something that popped into my head. Read and Review?**

The beginning of the school-year 1975 

Lily dropped into her seat, blushing vividly. She normally didn't blush this visibly, but as she had caught they eye of a boy further up the table, and had seen his mouth hanging open and his eyes almost the size of an apple, her immediate reaction was to blush. And thinking of that reminded her: she hadn't seen this boy before, not ever. She leaned back a bit and peeked up the table. There he was, sitting next to the new boy, Sirius Black, and opposite if Remus Lupin, her fellow prefect, and his friend Peter Pettigrew. She turned back to her friends, and momentarily forgot about the boy.

All around the great hall were there several conversations that were quite similar, simply because they were about the same person, or rather the same girl, Lily Evans.  
"Wow, Evans look quite hot this year." Someone would mumble to his friend, who would nod and agree. Another would perhaps choose to say "Wow, pity there's no girls like that in our house." where in response his buddies would come with mumbled agreements, while the girls within hearing range would huff and send a glare towards Lily and the Gryffindor table. At that table the conversations were lighter. A "Go Lily!" could be heard, as well as, from Lupins side.  
"That's Lily Evans, probably the hottest girl in the year, though I'm quite sure she wouldn't know, and she'd probably hex you if you ever hinted something of the sort." He muttered to James and Sirius across the table. Sirius nodded, and agreed.  
"She's feisty that one, a right little minx." But James slipped out of the conversation as his eyes lingered on that special girl with the vivid hair that made her stand out in any gathering, just waiting and longing for those glimpses of green he could see when she turned her head.


	5. A Vacation

**Disclaimer: Everything you know belongs to the genius that is J.K.Rowling.  
****A/N: Just something that popped into my head. Read and Review?**

The middle of August 1975

Lily hugged her mother and her father goodbye, and watched them leave the pub. Then she dragged her magic trunk out to the back and then out in the busy street of Diagon Alley. After exchanging some money in Gringotts she found her way past Crystal Avenue and into Wiffleton Place. There she got a hotel room in one of the hotels and left her luggage there before heading over to Tywinton Square. She bought a basket of strawberries at one of the stands and slumped down at the edge of the huge fountain.

The sun was blazing, and it was extremely hot, and after a while Lily was seriously considering jumping into the fountain.  
"Hello." A voice said, and a boy dumped down next to her.  
"Hello Sirius." Lily grinned and offered him a couple of strawberries. The first couple of days Sirius had been at Hogwarts he'd been flirting with her non stop. But after she had told him off a couple of times and then hexed him thoroughly, he had decided she would have to become the little sister he'd never had. And so, to Lily's great annoyance, he would hex anyone who even looked at Lily the wrong way, even though she was fully capable of doing that herself.  
"So what you doing here?" He asked her.  
"Well my mum and dad are gone on a trip to Spain. It's their twentieth wedding anniversary, and they got it in present from my grandparents. So I'm staying here for the next couple of weeks, over at The Kneazle Hotel in Wiffleton. What about you?" Sirius let his gaze wander about the crowd.  
"If I had had my way I would have gone straight here after school was over, but my dad forced me to me home for three weeks, then sent me to my aunt, uncle and cousins, but now finally I'm here. Left my bags with James over at the Cauldron, and I bet he's pissed. He can't make himself to leave it, so I guess he'll drag it all the way over here. Look, here we've got him!" Sirius shaded his eyes with one hand and pointed towards the little Alley between Diagon Alley and Crystal Avenue. James was positively fuming. He was dragging two trunks and a couple of bags.  
"Sirius," Lily scuffed, "We'll have to help him!"  
"No way I'm dragging that trunk, it's seriously heavy. And if I get too close to James, I fear he'll wring my neck!" Lily rose anyway and dragged Sirius with her.  
"Hello James!" She smiled and dragged her wand out of her pocket.  
"What you gonna do?" Sirius asked.  
"You can't do magic!" James said.  
"Oh huff!" Lily said.  
"There's so much magic going on that the ministry probably won't detect it." She grinned.  
"But even if they do, there's no problem. I've got a special agreement with McGonnagal and the Headmaster that says that I can do magic, so there!" She pointed her wand at the luggage and levitated it.  
"You've got a special agreement?" Sirius asked.  
"Why?" Lily looked at him for a second, then turned away.  
"Well," She began. "It's all connected with Voldemort." Both James and Sirius winced.  
"My family has been attacked by Voldemort three times when I have been away on school. And it's feared that I'll be attacked, therefor I have permission. Thankfully it hasn't been needed so far, Voldemort has kept away." Lily glanced up at the boys in time to see them wince for the third time.  
"What's wrong with you? Do you fear his _name_?" James and Sirius nodded.  
"Dumbledore said this would happen. But you just remember that fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself, so please. If you ever say 'you-know-who' in my presence, I will say 'no I don't know who', if you say 'he-who-must-not-be-named' in my presence I'll ask 'why not?'" She huffed and started walking down the street with the luggage floating in front of her.  
"Where do you want these?" She asked.  
"The Kneazle." Sirius and James said and followed her.

Lily dumped the trunks next to the reception inside the Kneazle and tucked her wand back into her pocket. James and Sirius checked in, and Lily, not bothering with a wand this time, beaconed with a finger and the trunks floated peacefully after her up the stairs to James and Sirius' floor, which happened to be hers as well. Lily then let the trunks drop to the floor, leaving it up to the boys to get them into the rooms. She followed Sirius into his room and flung herself down at his bed. After Sirius had got his luggage safe and secure into the room he dropped down next to her. A minute later or so James entered the room as well.  
"Wanna play some quidditch?" Lily asked, "There's a children's field in the backyard here." James and Sirius wanted, and they got their brooms and headed down to the field, after borrowing some balls from the receptionist. They had to face reality, they were only three. That left the snitch and the bludgers out of the game. In the end they decided on playing chasers against keeper, and rotating. But after a while they got bored with that, and landed on the lawn.  
"Where can we find another, what, three players at least?" They found no answer to this.  
"Hey!" Lily suddenly said. "There's Adrian, perhaps he'd like to play?" The boys glanced over at the boy.  
"Worth a shot." James mumbled and they hurried over to him.  
"Hello Lily." Adrian Prewett smiled.  
"Hi Adrian, we were trying to play some quidditch over there, but it seems like we're a couple of players short. Would you like to play?"  
"I would have," Adrian said, and lifted a bandaged hand.  
"But I can't grip a broom with this hand." It turned out that his sister's kneazle had bitten him quite badly when he tried to take her sons out for a broom ride. The problem was that they were only two and four years old. But he said that he had met a couple of Lily's friends out in Crystal Avenue. Lily left the boys and went in search for her friends. Not long after she found them at the huge ice-creme parlour in Tywinton Square. They were spending the rest of the vacation here as well, and had left their luggage in a safe-box. Lily bought an ice cream for herself, and one for James and one for Sirius. Then they went to the safe-box, and Lily managed, with some difficulty, to levitate the luggage over to The Kneazle, where they got their brooms and went out back. Sirius was longing to have an ice cream in the blazing sun, and gratefully accepted the chocolate, vanilla and lemon flavoured ice-cream, topped with a dancing ice mice. James thanked Lily for his strawberry, chocolate and hazelnut ice cream with chocolate frog, and politely asked who her companions were. Lily smiled and turned to her friends.  
"This is April." She said and pointed at a girl with short, curly brown hair and dark blue eyes.  
"This is Julie." She said and indicated towards a girl with clear Chinese inheritance, who had straight black hair and blue eyes. "And this is Alice." The last girl had wavy blond hair and grey eyes.  
"April, Julie and Alice, meet James Potter and Sirius Black." They five people shook hands and greeted each other. But just as they were mounting their brooms, ready to play, they heard a voice calling for them. They turned and found that Remus Lupin and Frank Longbottom was running towards them with a broom each.  
"Can we join?" Remus asked.  
"Of course." Lily said, "But now we'll rearrange our teams. What about girls against boys?" She asked. The boys agreed.  
"For the girls side, we'll have Lily as seeker, April as beater, Julie as chaser and me as a keeper." Alice said.  
"And for our side," James said, "We'll have Frank as the keeper, me as the chaser, Remus as the beater, and Sirius as the seeker." When they had mounted their brooms, Adrian volunteered to be a grounded referee. The eighth players shot into the air and Adrian released the balls...

The two teams gloomily seeped into the Knezle Hotel each and every one of them sodding wet to the core. They had had almost an hour of perfect quidditch-weather, but then it rapidly clouded over and the hot and gleaming sun was replaced by heavy summer-rain. This didn't dampen the players' spirits in the least, but the dirty playing which evolved after the referee had fled the court definitively did. It had taken the joint effort of Adrian, Peter, the couple who owned the hotel, as well as their three sons and two daughters to bring the players inside. Unfortunately the score was a tie, leaving the players willing to settle the score in about any way possible. With James, Sirius, Remus and Frank on one side and Lily, April, Alice and Julie on the other side, the intensity was high. In the end they couldn't stand each other's presence, and while the boy-team, along with Peter and Adrian, settled themselves around a table and started playing cards. The girls on the other side took the opportunity to flee the hotel. Once outside in the almost empty streets of this magical haven the girls relaxed. The rain had finally stopped, but since it was getting late there weren't many people there. They easily found a café with a wide variety of coffees and ice creams, and stayed there for a couple of hours. When they left it was even darker. A mere minute later they stumbled upon a chance they couldn't let slip. The four quidditch-boys were walking around the now empty Tywinton Square, obviously looking for them. The girls quickly hid behind some columns. Lily got hold of her wand and was soon swirling it about in intricate waves mumbling foreign words under her breath. Soon several snowballs had appeared out of the moisture in the air. The three other girls grinned wickedly at Lily, eternally happy that they had such a brilliant which for a friend. Lily conjured enough snowballs for her friends before sneaking closer towards the boys. A clutter of snowballs was hovering near the tip of her wand ready to shoot off towards a suiting target. When close enough, but still at an appropriate distance Lily sent the ballshurtling off towards the unsuspecting boys. Soon shrieks and swearing erupted, and when they had silenced Lily was gone. The boys scooped up the splatter of snow and hid in the shadows of the columns. Not well enough, it seemed, 'cause they were immediately pelted with snow from all around. Attack is the best defence it is said. And soon the girls had to flee from the merciless attacks of the boys. War had erupted.

The battle was still going strong when Lily sneaked of to catch her breath. She entered a little alley in the Avenue, and leaned heavily against what she thought was the wall. But as it yelped as she leaned towards it she hastily jumped away. She brought up her lit wand, and it illuminated the face of James Potter.  
"James," She hissed, "What in Merlin's name are you doing here?"  
"I could ask you the same thing." He retorted in a hushed voice. Lily leaned towards the opposite wall, confident that there weren't humans lurking in those shadows as well.  
"Escaping the battle of course." She muttered.  
"Me too." James said.  
"Except that with you here it won't be much battling to do, since you're the one who conjured all the snow. How did you do that really?" Lily grinned.  
"With a simple spell created by an Icelandic witch who moved to Egypt. I guess she missed the snow." Lily answered simply.  
"My hands are freezing from that snow, by the way. Couldn't you make warm snow?" Lily glared at him, but grabbed his hands.  
"Let me." She whispered, and while holding his hands gently with her left hand she warmed them with a stream of warm air from her wand.  
"That better?" She asked after a while. He nodded. They now stood in the middle of the alley, closer than they intentionally had intended. They could feel each other's hot breaths, and their skin tingled where their hand met. They moved even closer still, their breaths slightly ragged, but if it was from the exhaustion of the battle or something entirely different, none knew. Lily's eyelids fluttered close as they both tilted their heads slightly, and in only a moment their lips would meet. But just then a snowball swished past them and hit a garbage-bin with a loud bang. And the moment was lost as their friends came sliding in after it, screaming with glee...

**A/N: Now, I have no idea what will happen…**


	6. Just Something Extra

**Disclaimer: Everything you know belongs to the genius that is J.K.Rowling.  
****A/N: Just some additional things… :)**

Things to Remember

James is quite smitten with Lily, which she can't understand and then tries to ignore. Later the fact that he's always trying to ask her out becomes quite annoying, since she can't see why a handsome boy as himself would ask _her_ out and she makes herself believe that it's only because he wishes to humiliate her in front of the whole school. And on that basis she begins to hate him. James keeps on trying, however, but after numerous rejections she mysteriously accepts around Easter in their sixth year. Something happens that make James give up on her. But then she suddenly realises she like James, but she can't just start saying the opposite after all those years. She tries in several small ways to make him try again, but it isn't until she, as Head Girl, rises to sing again at the beginning of their seventh year at Hogwarts, which is also the schools one thousandth year, that he realises that he can't give up. And finally, at a ball around Christmas they realise that they're meant for each other and start the relationship the whole school saw coming since they first met.

Remember that Lily has skipped her second year and is one year younger than the rest.

And about the Animagi transformation: Remus and Peter are best friends, and together they have gathered all the information they would ever need in mastering the animagi transformation. But they realise that they won't be able to go trough with it without any more help. And that help appears in the forms of James and Sirius, which immediately take a liking towards the two Gryffindors. Not to long after the Marauders are a fact.

School Issue: James begin his magical education at Hogwarts but transfer to a foreign school after his first year, that's why he don't know Lily. Sirius, on the other hand, was sent to the foreign school immediately.

Proposal

"I remember the first time I saw you. Standing on that stage singing out your song ever so boldly, every note ringing out as pure and clear as the most innocent of the angels, as powerful as the mightiest lions roar. And I knew instantly that there could be no one else but you. But still, fighting the voice in my head with every step, I walked away from you, thinking that you'd never have me, and if there ever would be a time when such a thing were possible, you'd be taken, and you'd be perfectly happy. I mean, how could a so heavenly and divine creature as yourself be left alone for even a single moment. But Destiny was kind to me, and I found you on that stage again, singing out your song as if your very life depended on it, putting your heart and your soul and your mind into it, like you always do. And as your voice filled my ears, the sight of you left me breathless, in desperate need of the touch of your hand, the smell of your hair and the taste of your lips. You let me into your life again, and my love for you has only grown since that day, and it will continue to grow every day, even beyond the days of our life. But my life, I knew, would not be complete without you by my side, in every eye and in every mind, be there no doubt about that. But would you grant me the gift of you? A gift so heavenly and out of grasp that a man should fear to think of it, fear that one word that can wreck a human heart within a single beat. Still I will dare to think of it, and I will dare to ask it. Knowing that in my heart I love you more than life itself. Will you marry me?"


End file.
